Presser foot for sewing machines



Aug., 25, 1931. A. 'r CHIDLEY 1,320,433 PRESSER FOOT FOR SEWING MACHINESFiled June :5, 1929 patented Aug. I 25, p

UNITED ATE PATENT ALFRED '1. CHIDLEYi'ZOF ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS,AssIGNon'ro emu mom MA('JI-II1\TE-(301VJZIBA1\TY, OECHICAGO nmnoIsAcoRPoR-AmoN or I'LLrNoIs i rnnssnn'roor roesewing.lvuicnn nsApplication filed J'une 3, 1929. serial no. 367,937.

The inventionielates to new and iiseful improvements in a presserfootfor sewing machines, and more particularly to a presser footforguidingtheupturned edge portions of fabric sections for trimming andturning downthe trimmed portions into'fiat relation for-"stitching. i n

An object of the inventionis to provide a presser foot of the above typehaving a channel for directing the upturned edge por tions of fabricsections to the trimming .de-

vices, and rigid sections at each side of said channel with non-flexibleyielding members attached to said rigid'sections sothat said 1 membersmay tilt in either direction and yield bodily whereby fabric sections ofvarying thicknesses on opposite sides ofthe channel and also varyingthicknessesin the length of the seam maybe firmlygripped and held so asto insure a proper trimming and overlapping. oi the edge portlons.

In the draw1ngsz Fig. 1 is a top plan View of a presser foot Fig. 2 is abottom plan View of'the same.

Fig. 3 is a: view of the presser foot from the right hand sideinfFig. 1i I j p Fig.4 is a secti'nal view on theline M Big. 5 is a sectionaliview on the {line 55 oi'Figl. I

7 Fig.6 is a sectional viewon the? line 6'6 f of Fig. 1. q

The invention is directed to apres'ser foot for s ewing 'machine's forproducinga flat seam. Associated withvthe presser foot are horizontallydisposed trimming devices. The

' presser, foot is provided with ajchannel for, directing'the upturnededge portions of fa-b ric sections. to the trimming devices, and alsowith meansiorjturning down the trlmmed edge portions'intoflatlappedpositlon for stitching. In 5 the stitching of; fabric "sec W tionsto form a flat seam, sometimes the thickness of the' fabric sectionon'oneside'of the lineo'f'rstitching is difiierentfromf that on.theother side. Likewise, there is sometimes a variation in the thicknessof the fabric in .a direction lengthwise of the seam due to cross seamsand the like. i

f The presser foot I o f'thel present invention is provided with, rigidI sectionsat opposite sides of the'channel which direct the upunder'faceextending lengthwise thereof and in this recess: is mounted. thenon-flexible member. VThe non-fiexiblemember is proturnededge portionsfMount ed on each rigid v section is v a. yleld ng "non-flexible sectionvided with upstanding posts at its opposite ends passingthroughjopeningsin the rigid E7 section of the footjwhich openings'areof sufficient size as to permit either end of the foot tobe raised orboth ends ofthe foot to vided which surround these post's and whichmove-the non5fiexible section downwardly so I Rfemng 'more'in: detail fr wiiigsf 4 v i'onincl' des ajshankporfiohrlfadapted the presser "footwhich embodies the invenbe raised at the same time." SpringsareproasIto. project its under face beneath the'i'ace' I of the rigidsection of the presserfoot'. Stop pins are'provi'ded 'for'limiting theextent'of movement of the non fiexiblejniember relative'itothe presserfoot;

beattached to the 'ordinary presser bar.

h s-" han P nh 'i o msd"in e r therewith rigid fabric engaging sections'2' and3j' These rigid sections are'spaced so as to form a guidingchannel 4 through which theupturnededge portions of the fabric sectionsare led to the trimming devices,

' The trimming devices includea stationary,

trimming member5 mounted on the rigid the channel I' lfthat the upturnededge per-- tions of thefabric sections are trimmed; thus-f I preparingstitching, edge t irni section ,3of the presser; footanda movable.trimming member .6 which cooperates with a this stationary" trimming"memberfj/These trimming devices are so disposed relative to two edgeportions are lapped one upon the other in flat relation and thendirected to the stitching mechanism.

The stitching mechanism may be of any character and the needles operatethrough the needle opening 12. This member 10 is carriedby the rigidsection 2 of the presser foot. A screw 13 passes through the shankportion 14 supporting the member 10 and a spring 15 between the head ofthe screw and the shank portion will yieldingly hold the shank incontact with the upper face of the stationary member 2 of the presserfoot.

The .rigid section 2 of the presser foot is rovided with a recess 16 inits under face. he inner wall of the recess is located close to the wall17 of the channel 4. This wall of the channel inclines upwardly andinwardly and is shaped in the region opposite the yielding member 7 soas to provide proper clearance for the turning down of the edge portionof the underlapped fabric section. The other wall of the recess 16 isspaced a slight distance from'the outer wall of'the presser foot.Located in this channel is a non-flexible yielding member 18. Thismember is provided with an upturned front end'portion 18a whichis shapedto'conform to'the upturned edge portion 2a of'the rigid section 2.Attachedto the member 18 adjacent its front end is a post 19. This post19 extends through an opening 20 formed in the foot section 2. A spring21'located'in a recess in the foot section 2 bears againsta shoulder atthe upperend of the recess and against the upper face ofthe nonflexiblemember 18. A pin 22 passes through the upper endof the post and isadapted to engage'the upper face of the foot section 2 and limit theextent'to which the yielding member can be moved from the-recess intheunder face thereof.

.At the other end of the yielding member 18 is a post 23 and a spring 24with a limiting pin 25 which are similar in construction to thosedescribed in connection with the post 19. The yieldingly supportednon-flexible member 18 is of sufficient extentithat when it is forcedinto the recess16 to the limit of its movement, it will becomein effecta rigid part of the'rigid section 2.

Atthis time the under face of this member 18 is flush with the underface of the rigid section 2 of thepresser foot. The rigid see- Thisyielding proj ection 3 of the presser foot is also provided with arecess 16a in which is yieldingly mounted a non-flexible member 186.Posts 19a and 23a are attached to this member 18?) and springs areprovided which are similar to the springs used in connection with theposts 22 and 23 for yieldingly forcing said member 185 downward. A stoppin 22a is associated with the post 19a and a stop pin is associatedwith the post 23a. This yielding member 186 is located close to the wall17a of the channel t and extends partway across the under face of thefoot section 3. It operates in precisely the manner described inconnection with the yielding member 18.

These yielding members 18 and 18?) ar independent of each other. ifthere are two thicknesses of fabric at one side of the channel and onethickness at the other side thereof, the foot section engaging the twothicknesses will determine the position of the presser foot as a whole.The yielding member'bearing on the two thicknesses will be moved intoits recess so as to become rigid with its associated foot section. Aside of the channel, however, the yielding member will move down out ofits recess until it contacts with a single thickness of fabric and willproperly engage and hold the same.

If there is a cross seam in the fabric of a single thiclniess, whichcreates an unevenness in the fabric section along the length of theseam, the yielding section will be moved in order to firmly hold thefabric section in the region adjacent the stitching point. As the crossseam passes underneath the front end of the yielding section the frontend only will be raised, while the rear end of the yielding section willremain in contact with the single thickness of the fabric alongside ofthe stitching point, as this yielding section terminates at the rear ofthe needle opening as clearly shown in. Fig. 2. As the cross seamcontinues its rein'ward movement it will, of course, lift the yieldingsection bodily as it reaches a point midway between the springs, andasit reaches the rear end of the yielding section, then it alone will beraised tilting the yielding section in the opposite direction so thatthe forward end thereof engages the fabric section passing beneath thefront end of the presser foot.

Fro-m. the above it will be apparent that a presser foothas beenprovided with a nonflexible yieldingly supported member at each side ofthe channel, which guides the upturned edge portions of the fabricsections and these yielding members engage the fabric sections andmaintain control of the same regardless of any variation in thethickness of the fabric sections on opposite sides of the channel andalso regardless of the variation in'the thickness of a fabric sectionthe other in the direction of the length of theseam.

Directly at the rear of the presser foot there is a recess 26 in which,is mounted a foot section 27 supported by a shank'28 having a slot andscrew connection 29 withthe' shank of the presser foot which permits thesection 27 to move upwardly and which limits its downward movement. Thesprings 30, 30 bear on this section27 and normally force the samedownwardly. This yielding section 27 is provided 'with'a cut awayportion 31in its under facedirectly'inrear of the needle hole. Theyielding section serves the purpose of holding the lapped sectionsfirmlyin contact with the feeding mechanism and also of engaging the enchainedthread loops for chaining between stitched articles.

1t is obvious that minor changes in the details of construction and thearrangement of the parts may be made without departfoi 'th in theappended claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I in from the spirit of theinvention as set I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent,is i a I V 1. A presser foot for sewmg mach nes comprising a shank, footportions r1g1dly-car ried by said shank, said presserifoot having achannel between said foot portions for receiving and directing theupturned edge por by said shank, said presser foot having a channelbetween said foot portions 'forvreceiving and directing'the upturnededge por- V tions of fabric sections, said presser foot hav' ing meansfor turning said fabric sections into flat overlapping relationfor'stitching,

' each foot section having a recess in its under face ad acent thechannel, a non-flex ble memher in each recess, and means for yieldinglysupporting said members whereby the same may yield independently andmove from a rigidly supported positionwith its under face flush withtheunderface of the foot section to a yieldingly supported position v withits under'face proJecting below the under T face of the foot sectionwith which it is associated. i

prising a shank, foot portions rigidly carried 3. A presser foot forsewingmachines comby said shanlgsaid'presser foot having a channelbetween said'foot portions for re-' ceiving and directing the upturnededge portions offabric sections, said presser foot having means forturning said fabric sections lnto' flat overlapplng relation for sttching, each foot section having a recess in 1ts under face adjacent thechannel, a non-flexible member disposed in eachirecess, spaced postsrigidly attached to each member and extending through openings formed inthe foot section with which it is associated, a spring surrounding eachpost for yieldingly moving thef'non-flexible' member downwardly, and

- means for limitingthe downward movement of'isaid posts.

' 4. Apresser foot for sewing machines comprising a shank, foot portionsrigidly carfried by said shank, said presser foot having a channelbetween saidfoot sections for receivingand directing the upturned edgeportions of fabric sections, said resserfoothaving means for turning saiinto flat overlapping relation for stitching, each foot section having arecess in its under 7 fabric sections face adjacent the channel, anon-flexible member in each recess, and yielding means at each end ofsaidnon-flexible member for moving said member downwardly wherebysaidvmember is free to yield at eithercend' 7 thereof and bodily. I c

'5. A presser foot for sewing machines com:

prising a' shank, foot portions rigidly carried". i

by said shank, said presser foot having a channel between said footsections forreceiv-j 'ing and directing the upturnededge portions" offabric sections,said presser foot having means for turning said fabricsections into flat overlapping relation for stitching, eachfoot sectionhaving a recess in its under faces adjacent the channel, a non-flexiblemember in each recess,- a supporting and guiding member adj acent-theendsof'each non-flexifl ble member, springs surrounding. said supwardly,and stops to limit the. downward movement of said member whereby saidnon flexible member is free" to yield at either end thereof and bodily.

porting andgulding members and normally pressing said non-flexiblemember down- 'In'testimony whereof, I affix my signature,

- ALFREDVT. GHIDLE'YQ A

